BLACKADDERS LLP has completed the purchase of 37 chemist shops for clients across Scotland from Lloyds Pharmacy in deals worth a total of more than £35 million.
Lloyds has been carrying out a divestment programme in Scotland this year and 18 Blackadders’ clients have taken the opportunity to purchase outlets. Some have used the opportunity to expand their portfolio and others have been bought by young pharmacists starting out on their ownership journey.
The deals have involved multiple parties including financial backers, banks and selling agents.
The corporate team at Blackadders was led by the firm’s Chairman, Peter Duff, and included Associate, Richard Wilson and Commercial Real Estate Solicitor, Natalia Bell. Dario Demarco, who recently moved on from Blackadders, also played a key role in many of the early deals.
Peter said: “This is an area we specialise in and pulling these deals together was a fantastic team effort. Everyone involved has done a really good job. Our clients now have new businesses and tremendous opportunities to grow their ventures under their own brands.”
The final Lloyds’ outlet was purchased by a Blackadders’ client last week. The completed deals have been spread across the country including outlets in major markets like Glasgow, Paisley, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Perth and more remote branches including Rothesay.
One client bought 11 outlets and Blackadders are understood to have been involved in around 20% of all the sales of Lloyds’ branches in Scotland.
Richard Wilson said: “Pulling all these deals together in a relatively short space of time was a challenge but once the team got into the swing of it, we managed to secure all the outlets our clients wanted.”
Blackadders have been involved in the pharmacy sector for many years and deal with clients across the country, particularly in Glasgow.
Natalia Bell said: “We have a lot of clients in this sector and like them, we see real potential in the opportunities presented by the Lloyds divestment programme. It’s great to work with so many young chemists as well as established operators and we look forward to working with them in the future as their businesses grow and expand.”
Blackadders have also been involved in other Lloyds Pharmacy sale deals with Corporate & Commercial Partner Suzi Low and her team acting for the Bank of Scotland in lending to a number of non-client buyers.
Lloyds has been selling a significant number of its standalone stores in Scotland under a programme called Project Sapphire. They have also announced they will be closing all their 237 outlets in Sainsbury’s over the course of this year.
Blackadders has enjoyed a highly successful 12 months with increased activity in the corporate and commercial area. Several high-profile hires across the firm have added to the team, including Suzi Low’s promotion to partner, John Elder’s appointment to the Commercial Real Estate Team and Ian Angus joining in Rural, Land & Business.
The firm has also recently developed a bold new brand under the leadership of Joint Managing Partners, Emma Gray and Ryan McKay. The black and yellow colours traditionally associated with Blackadders have been replaced by a fresh aqua and purple colour palette as well as a simpler typeface.
The philosophy behind the new brand is to help Blackadders to break down some of the complexities associated with law firms and to present itself, both visually and verbally, as a modern, national, transparent and human law firm.
Blackadders has ambitious plans to become a top five Scottish firm within a few years and has also set its sights on being the employer of choice for the legal sector.
